𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩 - 𝙍𝙖𝙮 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏. - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

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" I crave her embrace. "

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The 11 o'clock sun is glaring through the large window, waking me from my slumber.
A yawn escapes my lips as I rub my eyes. I look around, nobody is here. It's strangely quiet. Maybe Emma and Norman are still asleep? I should wake them, they wouldn't want to sleep for too long.
I gather myself and stand, slowly walking towards their bedroom. The door is open and the bed sits perfectly made. Strange.
I dig through my pockets in search of my phone, pulling it out and messaging them.
"Where are you two at?"
I scratch the back of my neck and yawn once more, waiting for a reply.
"Getting food for tonight, sorry. Y/n is probably still asleep, help yourself to anything in the house; make yourself at home."
          I huff and respond with a simple 'OK'. I'll go check on y/n then.
          I make my way to her doorway, glancing in. There she lies on the bed, sprawled out with her legs entangled with the silk sheets.
          She's awfully pretty when she sleeps. I slowly make my way over to her, kneeling beside the bed. Drool rolls down her chin onto the pillowcase. I smirk, stifling back a laugh.
          The woman stirs in her sleep, a yawn escaping her lips before her eyes flutter open. She wipes the drool on her chin into the sleeve of her shirt, blinking at me before shutting her eyes completely.
          I shake my head, "I know you had a long drive, but it's 11 o'clock." I chuckle. "You wouldn't want to sleep your first day back away now, would you?"
          She scrunches her nose and groans into her pillow, "10 more minutes."
          I huff, "alright then." I stand up, brushing the dust off my knees. I head towards the kitchen quietly, trying not to wake y/n.
          I feel bad taking food from Norman and Emma, even though they said to help myself. I'll order food for y/n and me, I doubt Norman and Emma will be home on time anyway. I could make coffee for now.
          I turn on the coffee machine, letting the water heat up before pouring a cup. As I wait for that, I pick up my phone and dial the number to a local diner. I'm not sure what to order, so I just order 2 of "The Breakfast Special." I don't even care what it is, I'm starving.
          I pour the hot coffee into a mug.
          "Good morning," a voice squeaks from the hallway.
          I turn around quickly to face the girl. I think some of the coffee spilled, oh well I'll clean that up later. "Morning, how'd you sleep?"
          She shrugged and raised her arms over her head to stretch. "Fine, I guess."
          I nod, "coffee?"
          Her eyes light up at the single word. "Oh please."
          I carefully pour coffee into a second mug, being sure not to spill any. I place it in front of her as she sits on a stool, grasping the mug in her hands.
          y/n peers at my sweater. "your shirt," she says.
          I raise an eyebrow in confusion. "sorry?"
          "You've got coffee on your shirt." Her eyes lift to mine, sipping from the mug.
          "Oh." I can feel the warmth on my chest now. "I didn't even notice." I clear my throat awkwardly. I don't want to stain this sweater, I really like it.
          I swiftly pull my shirt over my head, heading towards the sink. As the stain is soaking under hot water and dish soap, I can feel her e/c eyes drilling into my back.
          I turn around to catch her staring. "Something wrong?" I inquired.
          She cocks her head to the side slightly. "When did you get all those tattoos?" Her eyes narrow with curiosity.
          I scratch the back of my neck awkwardly. "I dunno, I've been getting one every now and then since you've been gone, not a lot."
          A scoff escapes her lips, "not a lot?" She quotes. "You've got a sleeve and a half, and one on your back and chest."
          I go silent, unsure of what to say. "...do you not like them?"
          She immediately shakes her head no. "I didn't say that, I'm just surprised. I didn't know."
          "Of course, you wouldn't have known." I say with a huff, annoyed at the fact she's acting like we didn't have something between us before she left.
          She exhales deeply with a sigh. "Don't make this awkward. Ray." It's like she read my mind.
          I lean against the countertop and bury my face in my hands with a groan. "How is this not supposed to be awkward, hm? Before last night, the last time we talked was when my tongue was down your throat."
          She opens her mouth, then closes it, then opens it again. "You were getting married, it's not like I had a better option other than leaving."
          "You did have a better option." I wave my hands around in the air, almost shouting with frustration. "We could've run away together, I wouldn't have had to get married."
          Her eyebrow lifts with confusion. "You were willing to leave everyone you love behind?"
          I nod.
          The h/c blinks with surprise. "That easily? After everything they did for you? You would've let your parents down."
          I sigh and rub my temples, my head aching from the situation. "I know, I know."
          "I wasn't going to let you do that, I didn't want you to feel guilty."
          I inhale deeply, calming myself. "I know." I gaze at her with one last question. "Why did you leave?"
          "You know why."
          I shrugged my shoulders. "No, I don't actually. I've come up with my own reasons over the years, but I never figured out the real reason."
          Her fingers run through her hair. "Isn't it obvious?"
          I raise an eyebrow for the umpteenth time to show my confusion.
          Just as she opens her mouth, a knock sounds at the door. "That's breakfast," I clear my throat awkwardly, heading towards the door.
The rest of the morning was quiet, but not in a peaceful way. It was more of a dreadful kind of quiet, the type that roams an empty house after the one you love is gone.